Stop The Rain
by BryteTwilight
Summary: Twelve year old Aislynne is found alone in Spira and invited on a journey...but why is she there, why her? What happened to her, and what mysteries of the past are to be unraveled? My first fic...please R&R!!


Ch. One: As the Days Went By  
  
Disclaimer: I wish with all my heart that I owned Final Fantasy X or Squaresoft, but I'm not that smart. Sorry. I do, however, own Aislynne. Don't take her. ((AN: This is my first fic. Constructive criticism welcomed. Also, I know that Rikku isn't in this part during the game, but I needed her there. Yeah.))  
  
  
  
The great thing about this place is the fields. They never ended; the wind just kept blowing the grass over the ever-blurring horizon. The birds flew in the quiet, incessant sky; so different from my home.  
  
Home. But.what would I call my home? What, even, was the definition of home? The place where you curled into slumber night after night, the place where your parents lived? So, maybe I had an address. Nothing special. What would the other definition me? Acceptance? A places free of facades? Then does.  
  
Okay. Off track again. I've been off track a lot, lately.  
  
Anyway. Where I was. I don't know the name of the place, though, just.everything else. The endless plains. The bright, deep blue sky. And the air, it was so clean, so different. However, the biggest separation from my birthplace, I must say, is in the people. They were no physical differences, despite clothing, of course, but the change was in attitude. Everyone was polite, and they would tell countless stories-some surprisingly familiar. And they were so kind, apologizing at the slightest misunderstanding, and just to accept me as part of the scenery, a few even coming to ask the "poor little lost girl" what her story was, was a miracle in its own that always made my day.  
  
Oh, I wish with all my heart that I had a story.  
  
I had told them that I was just out playing as their own children were-yes; I am a child, physically, and many times mentally. But it was funny hearing myself making the same excuse over and over again, as the days went by. Funny, and a little sad.  
  
I brushed my long, coiled red hair behind my back, letting it flutter in the breeze, and stood upon "my" rock-the place where I spent most of my time-and turned around, suddenly becoming engulfed in the sun's rays. And there, just to the left, was the Highroad. The small, familiar dirt road, winding its path along the plains, the people moving along their business, the clouds high in the sky and a faint background of mountain peaks. Oh, if anyone back home were to set their eyes on this, I would be more than envied.  
  
But then.what was.  
  
Something was flying towards me, a radiant shade of turquoise and white. "Whoa, bird." I said, more of to myself, before it hit me. I flew right off my feet, much to my embarrassment, and to the ground.  
  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, coming! Excuse me, sorry." someone called out. "Sorry. Are you okay?"  
  
I looked up, and caught my breath. There was a boy standing in front of me. Not much a boy, considering me must have been around five years older than myself, but a boy just the same, and a brilliant one at that. His hair was in long blonde spikes, which was an unusual sight here, despite all of the popularity the style had gained at my school. His skin was rather sun- kissed, as well. His face was somewhat young looking, despite his height-he must have been at least one hundred seventy centimeters-and he (could it be?) dressed as I did, in the high tech, paroxysmal style; one pant leg was longer than the other, with a red, diamond like design at the knee. The other was finished off with a piece of mesh. His hooded shirt was an astounding, off-bright yellow, and the sleeves didn't appear to end; they ran like snakes down his arm, enfolding themselves in the armor clad by his arms. And his eyes; they were a deep blue, identical to the surrounding sky. The sun's beams glimmered out from behind him, surrounding him and almost looking as if he were their source.  
  
A warm glow pulsed in my neck, growing larger every moment and reddening my cheeks. Now, of all times! "Are you all right?" he repeated.  
  
I grunted slightly and tried to stand up. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Thank you." I stumbled, and he laughed a bit; but to my delight, I was being laughed with instead of laughed at. "Guess it flew at me harder than I thought.stupid bird," I muttered to myself, disregarding the fact that someone else was listening.  
  
He laughed, this time at my mistake. "That's 'cause it's not a bird." He ran off a few feet behind me, stumbling through the labyrinth of weeds before reaching down and pulling out a sphere-shaped object. He spun it on a finger. "See? Blitzball." He leapt suddenly into the air, rising perhaps a meter before twirling and freeing the ball from his grasp, then kicking it. It flew across the horizon to the dirt road to a small group of people. I turned my attention back to the boy, very impressed, but not showing it. He seemed disappointed; oh, well.  
  
"Blitzball?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. The term was foreign, yet highly familiar in some strange sense; consoling.  
  
"Yeah.what, you think you can do better or something?" He bent down into a competitive stance.  
  
"Show me how and I bet I could."  
  
"Eh, go back home and play with your dolls," he joked, but I didn't find it funny. Not at all.  
  
"Would if I could." I turned away.  
  
"What? What'd I." he started, but was interrupted by a man on the highroad.  
  
"Hey, Tidus! What's the holdup, ya?" said the man. He was strangely clad in loosely woven, multicolored thread. His skin was tan and his frame was sturdy and muscular. The man's most interesting characteristic, however, had to be his hair; it was a vivid red and piled up on top of his head in a style that ended in a single spike and looked as if it had been glued to stay like that.  
  
"In a minute!" the boy yelled back, whose name I now assumed to be Tidus. He turned back to me. "Yeah, well, I guess it's getting late.you better get going."  
  
I raised one eyebrow. "Late?" I repeated, glancing at the sun, just beginning its journey down the sky.  
  
He snickered. He was just full of laughs, wasn't he? "Yeah, well, then I guess I've got to go.sorry about hitting you and all, you're getting a bruise, right there." he motioned to a spot on my forehead. "You'll be okay?"  
  
I was about to respond cynically before realizing that the whole time, I had been inadvertently been leaning on the rock, holding my hand to my head. I darted up immediately. Ah, well, why not be difficult anyway?  
  
"Yes, of course I'll be okay! Why would you care, anyway?"  
  
He shrugged in response. "Well, go home and get it looked at, anyway. Which way are you going?" he bobbed his head as he spoke.  
  
What did he mean, which way was I going? Why did he care? And which way was I going? "Um, well, I live over there." I said, my words slightly low and incoherent as I pointed to the left.  
  
Tidus bobbed his head again; he seemed to do that a lot. "So're we," he stated.  
  
"We?" I asked. Oh, inquisitiveness is not a virtue.  
  
"Here, just come on," he exclaimed, seizing my wrist in his strong grip and pulling me towards the highroad.  
  
"Whoa, whoa, hey." I said, but he seemed unable to acknowledge "no" as an answer. His stride was nonetheless greater than mine, but he didn't appear as tall as he did from the ground; he was merely two or three inches taller than myself. The crunch of my feet faded as we approached the path, changing to a slight pitter-patter.  
  
We approached the small cluster of people that Tidus had previously thrown the "blitzball" to, which included the strange redheaded man. He let go of my wrist for the moment and I grasped it instead, feeling the blood pulse through, numbing my palm and fingers. I tried to walk away, but he grabbed my shoulder. I jumped, not expecting it, but then relaxed.  
  
"'Bout time, we was about to set out a search party!" the redheaded man teased, facetiously.  
  
Tidus scratched his head. "Sorry.but hey, this is." he paused, realizing he didn't know how to continue. He looked down at me. "Hey, um, what's your name?" he whispered.  
  
I laughed quietly to myself and rolled my eyes. "Aislynne," I smiled slightly.  
  
"This is Aislynne," he said to the rest.  
  
I glanced around; there were five others standing about. To my right was a slender girl who, although shorter, did not appear to be much younger than me. She was artistically clad in a sleeveless pink shirt and small green shorts. Her milk-colored boots came up to her knees and were embedded with a leather cross, which ran down, tipping off at the toe. The shoes were flared off with a feather at the top. A large, strange-looking spiked piece of cloth was wrapped around the lower half of her left arm. She had a long blue scarf draped over her back, and brown goggles tied around her neck, along with matching fleece gloves. Her hair was striking, long and golden and wrapped up around her head, with braids and threads hanging off everywhere. I drew my breath in at her eyes, which I would love to have; they were large, and a deep jade green with swirls and flecks around the edges, a shade lighter, filled with curiosity and delight. This girl was sitting on the ground, leaning against the outer edge of a crumbling brick wall.  
  
Next to her, although standing, was a tall, tough-looking man clothed in a deep, almost blood red robe, which was covering a black shirt and slacks. One arm was free of its sleeve, and he held it rested up against him. A green jug of liquid was strapped to his side, but he then picked it up and took a swing of it, leaning his head back and looking up to the sky. His hair was long and black, a bit of it just beginning to gray, although this was hardly noticeable. His eyes were brown, but I silently gasped at one, which was closed-a scar was thrown across it in an eye-catching pattern. Quite hot, I began to think, before slapping myself mentally. Don't be stupid, Aislynne.  
  
Across the two stood a pale woman, by herself and glancing out across the horizon. She had a horribly sad feel about her, and my heart went out to her immediately. She was dressed in a long, black, fur-lined dress. The bottom half was composed entirely of belts, both wide and thin, intersecting and winding around ((How long did it take her to put them all together?!)). The sleeves of the dress were long and bell-shaped, flaring out widely at the end and embossed with an elaborate crème-colored detailing. Only her nails stuck out of the ends; they were long and painted a deep purple. Her eyes were brown and downcast, made up with a dark grayish-purple shadow. The woman's hair was jet-black, wrapped up as elaborately as the belts were, with beads and braids and ornaments all strung within it. She turned towards us, tilting her head at the start of the conversation.  
  
In the center of the group was a large blue.well; I'm not quite what it is. He was taller, towering above the rest of the crowd. His snout was large but wide, as if it were a mix between a dog and a cat, although the rest of him was not animal like at all, despite the thick blue fur. He was dressed quite elaborately in an outfit that seemed as if it would take days to describe, and a tail protruded from his back. He was built strongly, like a man, and then I realized that they all had that same feel about them, the feel that they couldn't be stopped, and yet they were all comforting and familiar in the strangest ways, for I knew none of them.  
  
I turned my attention to the girl standing next to him, the last of the group, whom of he had been in deep conversation to until our arrival. She was also shorter than me, although not as much so as the first girl, with a gorgeous Asian look about her of which I was immediately jealous. Her clothing was unusual, but beautiful just the same. Her shirt was more of a white wrap, twirling in halter fashion, with a sort of cloth bet wrapped in a bow around her waist. It was bright yellow, but strangely, without a harsh feel, and patterned with multicolored flowers. Her skirt was a deep blue, and pleated with periwinkle flowers twirling up the sides. Although her shirt was sleeveless, long wraps of material covered her lower arms. They were white at top, fading to a soft pink. There was a thick wrap, striped blue and yellow and tipped with a feather, hanging from her soft mahogany hair. Her eyes were most interesting; one was the deep green, similar to the blonde's, and the other was a profound, luminous blue.  
  
In the middle of the circle was a pile of what I, at first, assumed to be swords, but, as I looked closer, they were more than that. One sword was beautifully detailed, swirled with green and blue, with a red strip of fabric hanging off of the back. There was also a long black sword, fixed into the earth, with a brusque end that looked painful to the touch. Between the two swords was the "blitzball" I had glimpsed earlier, and propped up against it was what looked like a stuffed animal (?!). Lying on the ground in front of everything was a long rod with a bell attached to the end. The top was a large golden ring, designs etched into its face, and in the back was a marvelously handcrafted harpoon. There were only five, I thought, one short.but then realized that the cloth wrapped around the first girl's hand was not cloth at all, but her own weapon.  
  
The blonde girl popped up and tilted her head to the side at our appearance, and the others silenced. The man in the red stepped forward. "Tidus, what the hell do you think you're doing?"  
  
I felt my face flush. "He's not doing anything, I was just going." I said, smiling politely and motioning over my shoulder to the fields. I shot a glance at Tidus before turning around and started to walk off.  
  
"Hey, I thought you said you lived over there!" Tidus called out, pointing in the opposite direction of which I was walking. Whoops.  
  
"Oh, um.I do," I said, my pulse quickening. I smiled contemptuously, shrugged, turned around and began to walk the other way.  
  
"Well, then, walk with us for a while! Sorry," he said quickly in response to my raised eyebrows. "Just wanted to see you off well."  
  
I kicked at the ground. This would be difficult."Well, I don't want to be a burden or anything, so."  
  
"You won't be."  
  
"Well, hmm...what if you all are a group of criminals, looking for children to kidnap and sacrifice?" I asked, although I hoped the sarcasm on my face was apparent.  
  
It was. "Sorry, girl, but this is a Summoner Party," Tidus laughed.  
  
"Ah, so the criminals have a name!" As I spoke, the doubts flickered through my head. What if?  
  
The pale woman shook her head, the edges of her mouth curling up slightly. "Child, where were you raised?!" she laughed. I shrugged, irresolute of what she implied. "Well," she spoke. "There are fiends on the road, so be watchful, wherever you are to go."  
  
Tidus bobbed his head. "Oh, that's right, I forgot.okay, yes, you're coming." He walked over to the pile of weapons and drew the green and blue swirled sword out of the earth.  
  
"Sure, against my better judgment." I watched as each of them went to the pile and picked out their things, before heading on. I hesitated before going on, but when Tidus made a motion to grab my wrist again, I unconsciously jerked away and followed.  
  
After walking for roughly five minutes in silence, I spoke up to Tidus. "So.um.who are you all?"  
  
Tidus laughed. "Forgot about that part, sorry. Well, I'm Tidus-"  
  
"Well, I know that."  
  
He shrugged, "Never told you. He gestured to the man with the red hair. "That's Wakka, and then that's Lulu," he turned to the pale woman. "Then there's Rikku, Kimhari," he pointed to the blonde girl and the blue catman, as I had unofficially dubbed him.  
  
"Oh, yes, Kimhari.what, um.what is he?" I asked doubtfully. "He's okay, right?"  
  
Tidus chuckled. Oh, when would he just shut it? "Well, he's a Ronso- surprised you don't know-and as for if he's okay, he doesn't talk enough for me to really know," He laughed again at seeing my eyes widen. "Kidding.yes, of course he's okay! And anyway, that's," he faked a cough "SIR Auron." He motioned to the man in red, stating the "sir" loud enough to be heard by the rest of them. Then he gestured to the girl with the multicolored eyes. "And last is Yuna.the Summoner." I noticed a faint lingering in his words.  
  
"Summoner?" I asked.  
  
Now it was his turn for the wide eyes. "You don't.I mean.well, I don't." he seemed to regain composure. "Well, I don't really understand it myself.but.well, I'll tell you later, okay?"  
  
"Later?"  
  
Tidus shrugged, but remained silent. The light was dimming.  
  
Lulu sighed in annoyance. "We're not going to make it to the end, there's no way.and nowhere to rest," she said, looking over her shoulder to the rest of us.  
  
Wakka looked back towards the setting sun. "We're not far off, we can still make it back to Luca, ya?" he shot a glance at Sir Auron-was it properly sir, I wondered, or was he just fooling around? Nonetheless, this Auron seemed to have some sort of control over the group; like, the type of person that said "we rest," and they rest, or "we stop here," and they stop.  
  
Auron seemed slightly distracted. "Oh, yes. yes, that would be best. " He glimpsed at me. "You'll be all right?"  
  
I looked down at his glance. "Oh, um yes." What to say, what to say. "I live right over there, in the valley," I pointed to a small slope.  
  
Tidus walked over and took a few strides before reaching the top. Oh, no, please don't."Aislynne, there's not a single house down there," he said, raising his eyebrows at me.  
  
Darn. "Yeah, well, I live there anyway."  
  
"With your family?"  
  
"Yes, of course!" Another lie.  
  
"Well, where are they?"  
  
I stared down at the ground, feeling the red crawling up my face and sensing their eyes on me.  
  
Auron did not wait for a response. "You're coming to Luca."  
  
"No, I'm not."  
  
He raised his eyebrows and titled his sunglasses down. "You're not?"  
  
I felt my resolve waver. "No."  
  
"Fine, then. Let the fiends come."  
  
"What, a squirrel will jump on my back?" I raised my hand to my forehead and threw my other one out to my side. "Oh, God forbid!"  
  
"Come on, don't be stubborn," Tidus chided. "We're going to Luca?"  
  
I hesitated. What if my jokes were accurate? What if, what if. I suppose that there are others here who could hurt me just the same.  
  
I nodded. "All right. If you're sure it's okay." I put in hastily.  
  
"S'not like you'll be with us for more than a day, ya," Wakka exclaimed. "Don't worry 'bout it!"  
  
I found myself walking somewhere toward the back of this "Summoner Party," between Rikku and Tidus. Rikku teased Tidus, her voice high and childlike. "You know, that was a really an awful Blitz Kick earlier." She knocked him in the back of his head with a fist.  
  
"Ah, you think you can do better, better than the star player of the Abes?" Tidus said, grinning in a competitive stance.  
  
She shrugged. "Well.my dad owns an airship!"  
  
I don't think I was the only one doubling over, and in this strange group of.well, strangers, to me at least, there was a strange sort of my fantasy acceptance.  
  
I loved it. 


End file.
